Mad House
by RebelionMuda
Summary: Edgar's soul has been bought by Up There and he's been resucitated in Nny's house. He has a mission to complete if he wants to get back to Heaven..He cannot leave the place, until he gets rid of *that* ghost. A very unusual couple no Original Charactes
1. Alive

… **Ladies and gentlemen…**

… **RebelionMuda presents…**

"**MAD HOUSE"**

_**A strange feeling…**_

**CHAPTER 1**

**ALIVE**

Heaven…

… is a big pain in the behind.

Or at least that's what any normal person would tell you. But of course, we shall not ignore the fact that usually "normal people" don't end up right there.

Oh no, Heaven is for children who die to young to be aware of sin, for grandmothers that stay in their houses praying for their families and for all the evil in this world to end, for nuns that try day by day to make this word better, for poor guys that have diarrhea accidents when they are dating (there has to be something good for them at the end, at last), for calm good citizens that never mess up with anyone and pay their bills on time… and of course…

For Edgar.

And there he was, sitting in the middle of row number 237654, static, staring at nothing in particular. A life with no particular morbid sin had gained him that little uncomfortable chair in the middle of that not-so-clean place. Should be filled of bliss, for sure… but instead he was somehow bored.

Eternity sitting on an uncomfortable chair wasn't what he was expecting at the end of the dark tunnel. He would have liked better a good cheese hamburger and fries, and a large soda too. Even a bagel would have been great compared to what he was getting.

_"Thanks for living sacrificing every one of your desires and wants, Edgar, here you have your cheeseburger" _

Yeah… that would have been nice. I mean, he wasn't a picky guy. He had never been like that. He had no problem with dying, well maybe with that _torn to shreds_ part, that had been quite painful.

But it had happened really fast, he really didn't remember that much of a thing.

He just remembered having been in pain… and of course, he remembered _him_.

His murderer. That Nny guy.

He closed his eyes. God, that had been a crazy one. Still he couldn't erase their conversation of his mind.

_"Why are people so unpleasant?"_

_"I don't know"_

"I bet he would hate this place too" he sighed. Edgar never though he would think such a sinful statement but damn, he couldn't deny it. He hated Heaven.

Sitting on a chair, seeing time pass… and they didn't even play a single movie.

He moved a bit, crossed his leg. His movement made a little noise provoking his neighbors' curious gazes direct at him. He looked at them back. And then they all stared at nothing again.

That had been the most exciting moment he had lived since he had gotten there.

"This is even terrifying…" he thought "… crazy neighbors staring at me all the time, fluffy bunnies flying around… and I bet if no one cleans up a bit *I* am going to get up and grab the mop."

Heaven… yeah.

But there was something about to happen right then, when he saw her. That lady who had led him when he got there, and that then had tried to molest him. She was using her usual "Social Service" outfit, and she was getting closer, walking through row number 237654, whispering something.

"Number 9,999,987, number 9,999,988, number 9,999,989…" The place was a little crowded when he thought about it, weird "… number 9,999,997, number 9,999,998, number 9,999,999…" and then she stopped, right in front of Edgar, her sinful eyes stared at him "… and you must be number 10,000,000"

Edgar swallowed. He didn't like how she had said that, he didn't like it at all.

"I-I… guess so?" he said, his voice felt weird in his throat, it had been a long time since he had last spoken.

"Well it says here behind your chair, you ARE number 10,000,000… cutie"

"Oh.. umh… ehem… that's… great, I believe" Why does his chair seemed more uncomfortable all of a sudden?

"It IS indeed… if you want to leave this place."

"What?" Leave Heaven? Well the concept seemed nice at first but then… where would he go if not Heaven? And WHY where they kicking him out of there?

"Yes, we have orders from _Up There_." She adopted then a very solemn posture "Number 10,000,000… It has been stated that you must go back to Earth, all in one piece, soul, body, mind… and even hair."

"WHAT?! Wait… WHAT?!"

"Shhh… don't have to be so loud, there are people trying to have some bliss here" a neighbor yelled.

"But… WHY? What did I do? Is it because I thought the place was dirty? Seriously… I meant no offense, but… you really should clean a little once in a while." What the hell was happening?

"Sorry, I cannot give you more information. _Up There_ doesn't like to be questioned… and it is really hard to keep this place clean, at least you should be grateful you got a chair! New people have to sit on empty boxes" she grabbed his arm and forced him to stand up "Now if you could follow me…"

"But… but where are you taking me? And what is this _Up There_ thing? Are you talking about God? Because he's not up there, you know, he's in the middle of that aisle… wait… there's not even an up there! We are in Heaven! What could be upper than this?" he said a little nervous, of death he sure wasn't afraid but… to live again?

Edgar stared back at his old 10,000,000 chair. Suddenly that little piece of wood seemed the safest place ever.

The girl laughed cruelly, in some way. "You fool… you really think this shitty hole is the highest spot in the system? You don't have any idea, do you? Hell, Heaven… they all serve _Up There_"

"_Up… There?_" Edgar noticed they had gotten quite far from the chairs room. It locked as if they had walked miles in just a few seconds. A few steps more and he was in front of a shabby door, nailed above was a single simple plaque that wrote "UP THERE" in black letters.

"Well, this is it. I can't enter in there but you have to. Don't worry, cutie… they won't bite you, yet. They need you for something… although…" her voice became a dirty whisper as she hissed on Edgar's ears "… I think I'd be more scared of what they want you to do than of being drowned in boiling acid, hee-hee"

And with a smile she disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke.

Edgar coughed, the smoke was irritating.

"Wait a sec, I-… I…" I am screwed, would be accurate.

Vargas started at the door, he was at this point in the middle of noting. It was just a blank space, with that single door in front of him. There weren't even scare fluffy bunnies flying around. And there was no where to go.

"This must be a mistake, this shall be a mistake… I cannot get back to Earth, I was ripped to shreds, no one can get back from that… they surely wanted number 1,000,000,001 and not me… I-I'll go inside and clear this thing out, yes I will do that" he swallowed hard "I will do that… I have nothing to fear, I'm in heaven after all… I… believe."

He knocked on the door at last and it opened almost instantly. In front of him there was a long stair, so long he couldn't even see the end of it.

**"Watch your hands, wings, tails and such other extremities"** was read on a sign that hung up from an invisible roof.

Edgar stepped on the stair, a heavy crack was heard and the stair started to move automatically. A good thing, he thought.

He hugged himself, the place was dark and cold, like some operation hall. It took him a while to reach the end of the long stairs. When he stepped out of them, they suddenly disappeared and were replaced by an empty space with no bottom.

The man stepped back by instinct. Staring at that black space he didn't really noticed he was still walking backwards until he hit something… or better said someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir I wasn't… looking… " he turned around to face what seemed like a huge, tall man with horns in his head. He was the tallest man he had ever seen, his red skin just told him one thing. "… Oh damn me to hell…"

"Hahaha… not exactly my boy, you see I just come from there and I really have no interest on contributing to that hideous overpopulation by adding one more soul, as tempting as that could be" Señor Diablo spoke in deep, dark voice.

"You… are…"

"Señor Diablo, for you. I have been waiting for you for almost 10 minutes, couldn't you have taken the elevator?" Devil said in an annoyed tone. He was wearing his usual outfil, and stared at Edgar in a very unusual way. He was so used to damned souls... a soul right from heaven... amusing.

"Elevator? Sorry I.. I just saw stairs and…"

"The elevator is behind the stairs, everyone know it! But well… let's carry on, my friend, the sooner the better. That's what I always say."

Devil walked and Edgar, as shocked as he was followed him. He had a lot of questions in his mind, but experience told him that asking for answers didn't lead to anything.

"I'm sure that must feel frustrating."

"Wha- .. I didn't say anything"

"KID… c'mon! You know who's standing next to you, right?" A soul right from heaven... irritating

"You can read my mind?!" he just prayed he hadn't seen very deep in him, if there was a thing Edgar liked was his privacy.

"Among other things… and yes, that was a vampire the one who stole your lunch when you were in 5th grade, a zombie kidnapped your hamster when you left for camping on 4th grade, that girl you asked out on 9th grade WAS half werewolf and… that shadow you saw on your pantry… no, sorry, it wasn't your mother's ghost."

The young man stared at him blankly

…

"… I KNEW IT! That girl kept the whole night sniffing the food and chasing cats!" He said as triumphant as he could be.

"You'll find that I'm full of answers, Mister Vargas. Answers that they will never give you"

"How did you know my-"

"Señor Diablo, Mister Vargas... Please don't forget the Diablo part"

"Well then… could you tell me why am I here… Señor? " Edgar asked, totally ignoring Diablo's annoyed attitude. Apparently the guy wasn't of his fondness. But then again, nobody had really liked him before. Not in Earth, not in Heaven… it seemed as if he had a repellent aura that kept all people surrounding him away. He was very impressed that Nny had actually seen him that day. That fatal day…

They kept walking until they entered another room, this one was brighter, very bright indeed it hurt Edgar's eyes.

"You have been bought, by _Up There_" The tall demon explained, always calm.

"Bought?! I didn't know I was for sale…"

"You're not the brightest light on the tree, right, Edgar?" Diablo laughed "After all these years of Sunday School… can you tell me to whom does your soul belongs?"

"To... God?"

"Yes, exactly. And if your soul belongs to God then he has all the right to sell it, don't you think?"

"God sold my soul?!" That little goblin-like chubby man, asshole!

"He has indeed… well he was still asleep when they asked him so I, as always, had to take care of everything. Your human soul, Mister Vargas, does not belong to this place anymore."

"But… but… WHY?!" That was some crazy crap, and he had lived among people who sat and stared at fluffy flying bunnies the whole day, he knew of crazy.

"It has been purchased by _Up There_, they are the people you should be asking that question, not me. Even though I know the answer I'm afraid you won't understand it until you're down there, on Earth."

Edgar's heart felt as if it was running a marathon, he couldn't understand a thing that was happening to him.

"Oww… but don't feel bad about it, you know they paid a lot for your soul. It has been the best deal we have done in ages. And plus you're leaving in a nice way, you don't belong to us anymore so we can't damage you, not even a hair. I don't really know what they see in you but they think you're the only one who can solver their… _problem_"

"… what kind of… problem?" he found the nerve to stay calm, even in a very stressing situation, Edgar always tried to keep control, and most of the times, he achieved it.

Diablo shrugged and smiled "Some people just don't let go"

The tall specter hunched to face Edgar "And now that I have told you this, the deal is finished. Goodbye Mister Vargas" a handle appeared besides Diablo, he put his skeletal hand over it and pulled it.

"Wait-NOOO!!!"

But it was late, Edgar was falling, falling, falling through the air…

"ASK THE BUNNY!" Diablo yelled.

Edgar felt as if he had jumped from the tallest mountain on Earth. He kept falling as if it weren't really a place to land… or get his head smashed against.

Until he started to feel something.

It was… something cold… very cold… it felt wet… the sensation started on his feet and then crawled upon his legs and his back and his chest. He couldn't breath, everything was so cold, it felt like being under water.

And there was exactly were he ended up.

Edgar opened his eyes, everything looked like a blur of colors. His chest felt like it was about to explode, until he reacted and sit.

Panting hard, his reddish face was dripping water. He was inside of a dirty tub. Soaked in water that seemed old and smelled funny.

So it was true… he was alive.

And naked.

Oh fuck.

Edgar tried to get out of the tub but it was useless, he had lost contact with that "real body" and "real walking" stuff. It took him 5 minutes to get out of it, and he ended up cold like ice and shaking on the floor.

His teeth were shaking so hard they started to hurt.

Hurt.

Pain.

So this is how it felt like, he remembered now.

A towel covered in dust was on a chair behind him. He grabbed it and tried to get dry a bit, still clumsy. The towel was wrapped around his hips and he stood up the better he could.

"Ok, Edgar… you can do it… just… don't fall…"

He still had no idea of in what God forbidden (or God allowed) situation he was, he only knew one thing.

He had to get out of there.

He felt it, there was something wrong in that place. Maybe it was the torn wallpaper. Or those weird redish-brownish stains all over the place, maybe it was that rusty chainsaw on the floor, with pieces of something rotting in its blade.

Maybe it was the smell of death in the air that remembered… he had been there before.

He gave one step. And then again, he started walking, and each step felt better and stronger.

"No, it can't be… it can't be _HIS_ place"

A door, would he dare open it?

He opened it.

The smell of putrid corpses filled his nose.

"AAAGH!" The door was closed.

Step. Step. Step.

Each stronger than the previous one.

Another door.

He opened it .

Was that a corpse sitting on another corpse, sitting on another corpse, sitting on an Iron Maiden?

The door was closed after Edgar could contain himself from throwing up.

Step. Step. Running, running…

Another door.

He opened it.

Some man was hanging up from the ceiling, a bunch of wires had been dug into his flesh and the moment he saw Edgar he yelled so hard Vargas could felt his ears about to explode. Maybe it was because he had lost touch with the *hearing* part of his body.

"AAAAHHH!!!" He put his hands on his ears as the man yelled again, this time because a heavy electrical shock was burning his intestines.

The door was closed.

Step, running, running…

A window!

A safe window… the outside was visible from there, Edgar grabbed it, opened it…

… but he felt his blood run cold at the gaze.

There was a wall behind the window.

Still he could see through the glass, as if there was an outside.

"What the fuck is happening?!"

He couldn't get out of that place, not through that window.

Running, running, running…

A door.

He opened it… and almost fainted.

There he was.

As skinny as he remembered him, dark skin, dark spiked hair, wearing that same shirt he was using when he killed them, a saw in his hand, half buried into some girl's skull, soaked in blood.

"And this…" his dry hissing voice could be heard above the girl's pleads for mercy "… is why you should think twice before you comment without understanding the depth meaning of great Kafka, uneducated little… " Johnny stopped and stared at the man in front of him before Edgar closed the door as fast as he had opened it and disappeared from his sight "Excuse me… did you see a half naked man standing there, by my door?"

The girl nodded.

"I see… that's what I thought."

Edgar heard the girl's last scream for her life and that disgusting sound the saw made when it fell on the floor soaked in blood.

Then his steps, one by one, those weird boots sure were noisy.

"RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN!"

But Nny was running too, and Nny was more used to be alive than he was so far.

Another goddamn door.

He opened it and locked it behind him, Edgar kept his hands against the door, refusing to let it go.

"Don't enter here, don't enter here…"

But Nny's steps were getting closer and closer each second…

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do?" he whispered without noticing that what he HAD to do was stay quiet.

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I…"

_"What am I going to do?"_

Edgar's eyes opened wide.

_"What am I going to do?…. "What am I going to do?"_

Was that... an echo?

_"What am I going to do? Fuck sake…. "What am I going to do?"_

No it wasn't.

That voice, it came from behind him. But it didn't sound like a real voice, it sounded like a very, very weird echo. Like somebody talking through TV static.

_"What am I going to do? If he never notices me what am I going to do?"_

Don't look back, Edgar.

_"What am I going to do?!!!"_

Don't look back.

_"What am I going to do?!!!!_

Don't look back, it's just static, just strong static.

_"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!... Wait… Who are you?"_

And Edgar looked back.

Everything faded into black smoke.

The last thing he could feel, was his bare chest being pierced by that cold blade from the behind.


	2. See me

… **Ladies and gentlemen…**

… **RebelionMuda presents…**

"**MAD HOUSE"**

_**A strange feeling…**_

**CHAPTER 2**

**SEE ME**

_"It hurts… Why does it have to hurt like this?... It hurts so much I can't move… I can't get up… Nngh…" _

His voice became sobs as he felt his body being torn apart.

_"… somebody help me please, I-… nngh… I can't breath… it hurts so much when I breath…" _

His sobs became cries that hurt him more and more.

_"It's so cold in here... AGH… It hurts, it hurts so much… Mo-mom?... Dad?... Somebody please, please…help me…"_

Edgar tried opening his eyes as hard as he could. But his eyes wouldn't open.

He didn't remember a lot. He had locking himself in that room and then everything had vanished.

But that pain, that blade crushing his spine and severing him without mercy… remained intact.

That was the end and the saddest thing was that nothing, actually, had even started.

But where was he now? And why was he calling for his parents? Wasn't he an orphan?

_"It hurts so much…" _

"Wake up."

_"… so much…" _

"Wake up!"

He felt something cold and strong slapping him. It could've been some heavy object or some wild animal's paw.

But it had been just a human hand. The hand of a murderer.

"Wake up now…"

Edgar's eyes slightly opened. He could see the room as if it had been taken out of some surrealistic painting: blurs of colors everywhere, undefined static shapes that surrounded a big one in front of him.

It looked like a person, a very skinny man or woman, Edgar couldn't really tell.

"Stay still, you person, you…" That harsh voice, it had been the same voice that had woken him up.

"Nngh…" Of course Edgar wouldn't move but how the hell could that harsh-voiced person stay calm when he was probably bleeding to death in front of them?

"Call an ambulance… please… " his own voice sounded odd. Was that Edgar's real voice? Had it always sounded that dry and desperate?

"I don't think so" The other one spat.

"But… why?" Edgar gasped.

His eyes focused the best they could (considering he needed his glasses) and then he recognized him.

Edgar gasped loudly as he tried his best not to stand up.

"I said stay still" Nny spoke.

And only then Edgar could realize the killer was menacing him with a sharp knife on his neck.

But what was the point?! Wasn't he bleeding to death already?!

"Please… call it… I beg you consider it, I really need it."

The murderer locked confused, but he wouldn't move the knife, not even an inch.

"Why do you need it so much?" He asked, in the same harsh tone.

"W-why?" Edgar couldn't believe it "I'm.. I'm dying!"

"Dying?... Haha…" Johnny's soft vicious laugh rang inside of Edgar's ears, confusing and at some point offending the man "You have to believe me, haha. I know a lot about dead people… and you are far from agonizing, unless for some reason you're carrying an alien inside of your chest… are you?" he asked and seemed genuinely curios about it.

"N-no." Edgar's voice was weak "But I am bleeding! Look at me I'm… I'm…" and he looked at himself, moving the less he could due to the knife still threatening his throat.

There wasn't blood. There wasn't a single injure. There wasn't even a goddamned scratch!

Just his bare pale chest going up and down, up and down.

"Naked" Johnny finished Edgar's sentence "Naked in my house, what the fuck are you thinking? You can't enter someone's house wearing only a towel, especially when that is MY house… and especially when that is MY damn towel." The murderer's eyes narrowed as he pressed the knife harder against Edgar's skin.

But Edgar was too astonished as to even realize this.

Just moments ago he had felt his insides being severed. That pain had been so real, so deadly real. He had thought he was dying again. The sensation had been so unbearable he had even cried for his parents like a little child… when he didn't even know them.

What the hell had happened with that? Had it been dream? No. It had been too real for just a simple dream, even for a bad nightmare.

"Answer me!" The killer yelled, pressing harder the knife, making Edgar's neck bleed a little.

"I... don't know" he barely gasped and the pressure on his neck lessened.

"You don't know? Well you better come up with a well thought excuse now or else…"

"I swear I don't know, I just woke up here." Edgar whispered.

"Mmmh…" Johnny growled moving the blade of his knife from Edgar's neck to his cheek.

The cold knife made Edgar even more nervous.

"… I know your face…" Johnny hissed "… but I don't know you."

Edgar tried to remember the time when Johnny had killed him, maybe he could find something useful for this situation if he tried really hard. But the only thing he could come up was...

"My name is Edgar. Edgar Vargas." He said trying to stay calm.

"Edgar Vargas…" Johnny pronounced his name rubbing his chin with his free hand in an inquisitor-like expression.

"… yes and… and I have… nothing to fear…" Edgar said, begging for Nny to remember he had half-liked him long time ago.

"Ah yes…" Nny smiled, looking at the ceiling and taking his free hand to his forehead "… you're that guy!" His harsh tone softened a little. "And what the fuck are you doing naked in my house?" The soft tone disappeared.

Just when Edgar was starting to relax a bit. This was a lot like the last time. This Nny guy was not predictable, just in the moment when Edgar thought he would escape… he ended up bleeding more.

"I told you, I don't know… I just woke up here." Edgar said very calmly, almost spelling each word.

"Wait a minute. I killed you. There was nothing left, just a mass of flesh and the blood I used to… how is that you're here again?" Nny pressed the blade harder this time, making him bleed.

_"Think Edgar, thing something smart…. agh… Why does he have to do that?!"_

"God sold my soul. You're almost in my jugular."

Nny took his knife off and held a kind of boring expression "It's not that deep."

Edgar took a hand to his neck, he was bleeding but not that bad. It had been a calculated injury.

"God sold your soul? That has to be the lamest excuse I have ever heard, and trust me, I have heard some quite. Why are you here, Edgar?" Nny insisted, his voice became deadly slow, as a snake hissing before finally biting a little mouse for dinner.

"I… I swear, I don't know… I was… in heaven and then this lady came and told me I had been sold and then the Devil-"

"The Devil?" Nny's expression darkened even more.

"… yes, the Devil, he told me that some kind of system had bought me and that I was supposed to do something here and ask a cat about it… or a bunny? Or… well then I woke up here."

If he had told that story to anybody else he would have won a free visit to the closest asylum. But it was Nny the person he was talking to, and Edgar was too confused and tired as to come up with a good lie. So there it was. The simple truth.

Nny stood up, shadows covered his face. It was impossible to figure out what he was thinking and what he was planning to do. Edgar could do nothing but to wait, even if he wasn't tied up like that unlucky time, he couldn't move a muscle.

The presence of Johnny had this effect, he really was a snake and Edgar was a mouse cornered by him. The silhouette of the murdered, even when thin and blurry, felt like another wall to him, impossible to walk through, impossible to defeat.

Seconds passed. Seconds that felt like minutes. Minutes that felt like hours.

And then the snake made his lethal move.

He buried his fangs deep on his target: the wall behind Edgar.

At one of Edgar's sides a knife was buried, at the other side there was another knife… and in front of him Johnny's face full of disgust.

Just inches away from Edgar's nose.

"Get the fuck out of my house and NEVER come back." Nny hissed. "NOW!" He cried out loud pulling out his knifes and menacing Edgar again as he finally reacted and stood up almost falling again in the process.

Edgar stumbled with his own feet and with the door itself when he disappeared through it.

_"He let me go. He let me go. He let me go."_

Was the only think he could think of and running was the only one he could do as he made his way through the creepy hallways and rooms in the house. Edgar didn't know where he was going but he could only expect the best.

There was no time to dwell on Nny's reasons not to kill him, there wasn't even time to think on where his sadistic illusion (if it had actually been an illusion) had come from.

But it had felt so real, Edgar could swear he still felt the cold of the sharp blade destroying his spine.

It couldn't have been a nightmare. It was too real. He was agonizing and calling for his mom and dad, people he didn't even know. It was almost as if he had been… another person.

_"Where's the door? Where the hell is the door?"_

A sofa got in his way, it was difficult to evade things without his glasses. A sharp pain from his toes made him notice this. But after a headlong race he could see what he hoped was the front door, it was different from the others because of a shiny window on it, revealing sunlight.

Edgar smiled as he held Nny's towel tighter on his hips.

He quickly opened the door and without thinking it twice he went…

… he went face first against a solid gray wall.

On the floor, Edgar covered his bleeding nose with his hands and when he could open his eyes he stared at the nefarious wall in front of him.

It was nothing out of this world, just a simple solid grey wall with a white poster with black letters that said:

**"MISSION INCOMPLETE: DOOR LOCKED"**

"What the…" Edgar stared at the poster "Crazy little-" he heard noises behind him. Maybe Nny had thought it twice about letting him go. Maybe it had all been a joke. Maybe Nny was playing with him and had blocked all the entrances just to chase him in some morbid hunting game.

There was no time to stop, he ran and tried the best he could to avoid anything at his path, his teary blurry vision didn't help that much.

Another door, light sliding through its frame, this one couldn't be a fake. Almost slipping on a puddle of fresh blood he got to the door and opened, but this time he took some seconds to verify that there was nothing behind it.

Oh, cruel reality.

There was something.

Edgar stared shocked as a grey wall stood in front of him, and the same poster there, making fun of him, laughing with those big black letters.

**"MISSION INCOMPLETE: DOOR LOCKED"**

"What the hell?!" And he covered his mouth with his hands. He couldn't be noisy now. Maybe Johnny didn't know where he was.

Then he suddenly remembered opening a window before he had passed out and finding a wall like this time. But he had seen the outside from it, it couldn't be, it was not logical… that couldn't be happening.

Confused and tired, exhausted and sore he got up and sat on a gnawed armchair trying to figure out, trying to find some sort of logic in all that mess.

"I can't leave the house…" he whispered at last.

His nosebleed had stopped, his face was sore, his arms hurt, his neck was in pain… he heard nothing so maybe it was time to take a break.

"Diablo said… he said that I had been bought by someone to make a job here…" he kept talking to himself, just to hear a human voice "… walls say that doors are locked… mission is incomplete… Maybe… maybe if I finish the job I can get out…" he was a smart person, after all, and to that conclusion he got.

"But what do I have to do?" a long sigh left his chest as he closed his eyes and felt his heartbeats soften "… I have to ask the bunny."

For a moment, just for a second Edgar listened to himself.

"This makes no damn sense I sound like I'm losing my mind… and I keep talking to myself, that can't be good."

Edgar Vargas had always been a man of facts. His life had passed by without any kind of big surprise, of unusual anecdotes, of marvelous mysteries… Up until the day he died he had been a rational man whose only blowoff valve from reality had been faith.

But faith had betrayed him and had put him in a situation he couldn't even be aware of.

And just months ago he had had nothing to fear.

He had just been another random guy on the street, the kind of guy you never notice, the kind of guy who could be on fire yet no one would hear his cries for help. And he so loved that.

But now there was no heaven to run to. If he died where would he go? He had been sold now, he had no place in heaven, not even in hell. He was a prisoner of some kind of system he didn't know a thing about. And he was trapped inside of the house of a deranged murderer… the same one that had sent him to heaven in the first place.

You live. You die. You go to heaven… or burn in hell.

But you don't come back. Not especially to a place like that one.

After living the most ordinary life he could have lived… how would he even know what to do about this?

Edgar just didn't.

But he wasn't giving up. Maybe he had been the lamest guy on the street, the quietest one on heaven, the grey shadow in the background… he still was the man without fear.

And he was going to get out of there.

After a long sigh Edgar buried his face in his hands.

"If I only had my glasses, at least I would see where the hell am I going and-" he stopped his rant as he felt something falling on his lap.

Right on his towel a pair of glasses had fallen from the roof.

Edgar took them with shaky hands, they looked exactly as those he was wearing when he had died. After a little gasp he noticed he had been holding his breath. Stunned, he looked at the ceiling. There was nothing there, just a worn out dark wall paper.

Maybe things weren't as bad as he thought.

Hesitant, he tried the glasses on and found out that they were his prescription; actually it was exactly the same pair of glasses he had worn the night he had died.

"Okay… " Edgar's expression was hilarious: a mix of surprise and contemplation.

After a very psychotic afterlife experience… now pairs of glasses were falling from the roof.

Inside of him, he thought he would hear that obnoxious tune of Twilight Zone at any moment.

But maybe he could just take advantage of the situation.

"I think I can use a pair of pants too…" he whispered "and a shirt… and-" he couldn't finish, his head was in pain… because of a pair of shoes falling from somewhere in the ceiling and hitting his head.

Edgar got up violently. There, on the floor, were the shirt, the pair of pants and the shoes he had worn the night he had died.

"… this is … interesting…" To try it on or to not?

Well he really didn't like being naked there so after an examination he tried them on.

They were perfect.

"That's right… excellent. I think I need something to break those grey walls, yes… I really, really need it…" But nothing appeared.

"… I just had to try."

Dressed and now with a perfect vision he stood… Just to realize he didn't know where to go.

But his predicament was soon to be resolved when he saw someone… or something… walking through a near alley.

It had just been a shadow, but it looked like a person. Any trace of common sense told him to stay away from it, it could have been Johnny after all, but something weird was happening with him. That weird shadow… it was just… so tempting.

Edgar followed the black silhouette, when he got out of the room he could see… almost see… the back of the head of a person.

Yes, it was a person.

A shine of hope crossed Edgar's mind. Maybe he wasn't the only one. Maybe someone else had been sold in heaven and was stuck there like he was. Maybe they could figure out a way to escape.

He followed the shadow as fast as he could, but the other person was quickly and he only got to see their leather boots or the edge of their shirt turning around some other hallway.

Edgar wanted to scream, he wanted to tell them that he was there too, but something told him not to do so.

At some moment he lost them. Frustrated, Edgar ran as fast as he could just to see a door close slowly at the end of an alley.

He didn't think it twice and entered the room.

If he was actually safe he couldn't tell, as far as he knew that room could be his next grave.

The little room looked better than the rest of the house. It didn't have any rotten corpses hanging on the ceiling so it was bearable, there were many suspicious stains on the wall but that was fine. There was a small bed with dusty covers, a little dresser and some drawers. An ugly red rub covered the whole floor. Everything was illuminated by a blue-ish lamp on one of the dressers.

Also, the door had a tiny peephole on it. It was the best place to stay apparently.

Edgar looked through the peephole, there was no one out there. He sighed, relieved. Nny hadn't followed them.

And back to the matter…

"I'm sorry I followed you, but I was wondering if…" Edgar turned around, ready to face them. Ready to confront whatever kind of person he had been following.

But he found… nothing.

Perplexed, Edgar stared at the empty room.

Trying so hard to find somebody there, he looked under the bed but there was just dust.

Maybe he had made a mistake, maybe he had entered the wrong room, the top line was that he had lost the other person and now he was alone again.

But at least he had found himself a good place to hide.

"Well I guess I'll stay here for a while…"

_"… stay here for awhile… " _

Edgar's eyes opened wide.

_"… I guess I'll just stay here for awhile… " _

His blood ran cold as he remembered that voice, that weird echo, like someone talking through TV static.

But it wasn't his voice. He didn't want to look. It was like a cruel déjà-vu. It was the same voice that had been talking just when everything had gone black and before he started to feel that massacre.

_"… But if he never notices me… " _

"It's talking again, it's saying the same things it said before… but there was no one in the room when I entered" Edgar thought.

_"… he never notices me…never… " _

Edgar swallowed. He heard then a weird noise, like someone hitting something against the wall.

Tump-tump-tump

And gathering all the courage he had, he turned around. The room was very dark. It was actually darker than when he had gotten inside. Edgar focused on the bed, trying to see someone there sitting on it, but there was nothing.

_"… I'll try harder. It will be better next time. He will see me… " _

Edgar's curiosity increased and he came closer.

"He-Hello?" he tried softly.

_"… He will see me just the way I am, and he will understand…that we are so alike!... " _

That dry beating sound… it sounded like it came from a corner across the room.

_"… so alike... " _

"Hello?"

Hesitant, Edgar came closer to the place the noise came from. Although his instinct was to run away and never open that door again, there was something else… stronger than himself, dragging him, bewitching him, like an invisible mermaid singing a delicate song.

Tump-tump-tump

The room suddenly got colder than before as Edgar approached the bed and hid behind it.

There was someone there.

In a corner of the room, at the other side of the bed.

The place was so cold Edgar could see his breath in front of him. He had to see, he had to see who was there.

Slowly, he sneaked upon the bed and leaned to see.

There was… a person (or something that looked like a person) there.

Tump-tump-tump

It looked like a skinny man… a skinny man hitting his head against the wall, but his silhouette looked blurry, as if he was made of smoke, Edgar thought the reason of that was the lack of light in the room and stared at him while the strange person kept hitting himself.

Suddenly he stopped.

Silence set upon the two, but Edgar wouldn't move an inch.

Then _he_ turned around to face him.

Edgar had never seen something like that before.

He had the face of a young man, paler than a corpse. But there was something else… something wrong.

Indescribable, but true.

Black baggy yeans stuffed into weird black leather boots. A stripped black and white shirt. Spiked hair, a Mohawk. Pale skin. A very young person. A normal person. A common pissed off teenager.

Yet something in those unsettling grey eyes told Edgar that there was something wrong.

The teen seemed annoyed and looked at Edgar as someone would look at a roach. He got up of his corner and Edgar felt his blood run cold.

Edgar realized he could look through him, like a shadow, like his very whitish breath.

Slowly, Edgar moved back and stood up behind the bed. The silence was unbearable.

The teen spoke _"… stupid prey… " _

And there was the static-like voice. _"… what the fuck are you looking at? "_ And he had a weird accent.

Edgar looked, motionless, how the other started to walk toward him until their faces were separated just for a few just inches.

His movements were strange, unrealistic. It seemed like every time he moved took a great effort, yet he did really fast. It just took him a second to get in front of Edgar, but then Edgar realized something… he hadn't heard any steps.

And when he had been following that shadow he hadn't heard any stepping either. Just his own.

Edgar didn't know how to act, if he should move or if he should stay… that entire situation felt like some weird Japanese horror movie.

The teen looked Edgar pervasively; his grey unsettling eyes made him shiver.

_"… what a fairy."_

And after his solemn statement, he started to walk toward the door.

Edgar was shocked. What the hell had happened? A weird shadow-guy with odd eyes had appeared out of nothing just to insult him… and then to leave the room.

All Edgar could say to that was: "Fairy?"

Before he could reach the door, the teen stopped and turned around. He looked at Edgar again, this time confused. He came near him, too near for Edgar tastes. He could even notice a couple of ear piercings on the other. Its pale face held the expression of a curious child.

But Edgar couldn't hear any step, how could he move in that bizarre way and how could he be so silent.

_What was that?_ The teen whispered

Edgar didn't say a word. Every time the other one spoke he could feel cold breeze.

_"… stupid prey… " _He said and turned again ready to leave.

"… prey?" Edgar whispered, never knowing how to act.

The teen stopped dry, this time his expression was not curious… but upset. He came closer, carefully, to Edgar. Surrounding him, like a wolf would surround his prey. Slowly getting closer, facing him. His disconcerting grey eyes made Edgar nervous, but he kept staring at him intensely. Until…

"… who… who are you?" Edgar asked just to hear one of the strangest answers he thought he could hear.

_"Who are you talking to, weirdo? There's no one in the room" _

The shadow guy looked at Edgar as if he expected him to go on a crazy violent episode.

"I'm talking …" Edgar said slowly, looking at the other one… who didn't move nor made a sound "… to you."

Time stopped, their eyes focused on the other's. It took some moments for the teen to react. And when he did…

_"HOLLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!!!"_ He cried loudly and stepped back, looking panicked.

"What?!" Edgar yelled too, until he remembered his situation "Don't scream! He's going to hear us… just… ssshhh."

_"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"_ The teen looked clearly panicked, his weird movements were disturbing.

"I could ask those very same questions… just sshh… he's going to hear us" Edgar ran toward the door and looked through the peephole , there was no one outside.

_"Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you taking to me? Can you see me? Are you one of the voices? No…" _It seemed that he was having a hard time trying to calm himself _"… the voices are not that tall, stupid…" _

"SSSHHH!" The guy surely was annoying. "I'm hiding from that maniac and of course I can see you… actually I can look through you… " Yes, that wasn't good.

_"You can… you can see me… Oh holly fuck you can SEE ME!"_ its expression turned from fear to surprise _"You can really see me, can you? Fuck yeah! I DID IT!" _

"Yes, yes I can see you but please keep it quiet… " Edgar looked through the eyehole again "He's going to find us"

_"You can see me… You can see me! You can see me!" _He yelled over and over.

"Shut-up" Hissed Edgar, for the very first time, annoyed.

The shadow guy's expression turned serious and at some point offended.

_"Don't shut me up, man, you don't know the hell I have been through! It's the first time somebody sees me and I ain't gonna waste it!"_

"Okay… okay sorry, I'm sorry I yelled at you but would you please stop screaming? I'm kind of hiding here and I really need to be quiet because he could find me and sever me again and-"

_"Who? Nny?"_

"Yes… yes, Nny" Edgar couldn't hide his surprise when he heard his murderer's name.

_"Well if I was you and luckily I'm not, I wouldn't be that worried"_ His sly smile made Edgar nervous _"If Nny is looking after you there's no chance to escape."_

"No... chance?"

_"Nope… when Nny finds his prey there's nothing much to do. Sorry about that, but you're gonna die."_ He said, almost mocking.

That really wasn't what Edgar was expecting to hear "…and how do you know that? I mean there has to be a way to escape."

_"No there isn't… he will find you and kill you and I will have to stand his rants about finding you and killing you, it's always the same. Though I'm impressed you actually escaped… that's something else"_

"You will… wait who are you? WHAT are you?" Edgar FINALLY asked.

_"Oh… I'm a ghost"_ The guy said as if wasn't a big deal, clearly trying to seem interesting.

"A ghost?" Edgar held a skeptical tone, though he couldn't really deny it… the guy did look like a ghost, he had all the signs.

_"Yes. Pretty cool, uh? My name's Jimmy… but my friends call me Darkness, pretty cool too, uh? Though… I haven't seen my friends lately… since the whole dying thing and all… oh wait a second."_ He said as he seemed to realize something _"You escaped Nny, there is only one person that escaped him and she did some quite damage first… did you hurt him?"_ Edgar couldn't tell Jimmy's intention on his question.

What if he said yes? What if he said no?

"I didn't… he kind of… let me go" Edgar said unsure.

_"Oh I see…"_ The ghost said, after some awkward silence _"… I don't believe you."_

"What?" Edgar's instinct told him there were problems right ahead.

_"Nny would never let someone go. Never. You must have escaped… somehow… and if I tell Nny where you are… he might notice me at last! He might see me! Can you imagine? After all this time trying to make him notice me at last he will see me!"_

"What are you talking about? No. Don't tell him, please. I'll just go away. I'll get out of the house somehow. You know, he really let me go, I am not lying… why would I lie?" But Jimmy was not as easy to talk to as Nny was.

_"I can see it! He will be glad I brought him back his prey. And he will finally realize that we are so alike!"_ Jimmy continued almost having an epiphany.

"No. No I don't think so. He just doesn't want to see me again. I don't think that will make him happy." Oh boy.

_"What do you know about him?"_ Jimmy said, angry and to that Edgar had no response _"I'm gonna tell him now!"_ Jimmy smiled, devilish, and ran towards the door, walking through it without opening.

"Oh God, no!" Edgar followed him, as fast as he could. The problem was that Jimmy was faster.

Trying not to lose sight of him through the hallways, at some point Edgar realized that he had lost him… and he had lost himself too.

.

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Thanks for reading! Pardon my mistakes, I'm NOT a native English writer and I do my best with what I have, heh. This chap is dedicated to Desdemona, Jynx who are always there to support me and Smile48, who helped me to edit it ^^Please leave comments!!!! =)


	3. Duty

… **Ladies and gentlemen…**

… **RebelionMuda presents…**

"**MAD HOUSE"**

_**A strange feeling…**_

**CHAPTER 3**

**DUTY**

Afterlife shouldn't be that difficult.

Problems should end when you rest in your cozy coffin and decay slowly and peacefully for the sake of death.

Nothing should matter any longer. Nothing to frown about.

Then why was he so scared? Why was he still running when he should just lay and perish like all the good corpses do? Luck wasn't on his side. It had never been. It sure wasn't on that fatidic day, when Johnny had picked him up randomly of a crowded road.

And now this. He had been denied his eternal rest in favor of someone else's plans. If he only knew that someone, if he only knew those plans. But things weren't easy, not for him. His life had been hard; there was not a reason for his afterlife not to be even harder.

Edgar missed Jimmy when the ghost turned around the second alley and he was not sure where he was now.

Alone, he stood in the middle of a decrepit floor. This part of the house was different from the one he had seen. There wasn't blood on the walls, not dry nor fresh. He couldn't hear any moaning nor cry for help. Dust covered everything. Spiderwebs hung from the roof and from the old furniture.

It looked like some classic horror movie scenario.

And then he realized, that maybe it wasn't that much of a good idea to follow that crazy dead teen. Jimmy was going to get Johnny, and he was going to do so Johnny could kill him. If only Edgar could get five minutes to rest his sore body he would come up with a very clever plan.

But again… luck wasn't on his side.

He heard a noise. It came from one of the doors at the other side of the alley. One more time, hiding was the best thing he could do for now.

Crossing his fingers he entered a room. It was an empty bedroom and it had a spicy musty smell. Edgar closed the door behind him and locked it and hid in the closet behind the small dusty bed.

_"He's here… "_ Edgar recognized that familiar static-like voice _"… I can feel him, in that room…"_

_Feel me?_

What was this? Edgar felt trapped in some crazy gory video game his friends forced him to play once. He was so bad at it that the zombies ate him constantly. He had felt so helpless right then, just as he felt now. Only that there isn't a reset button in this occasion.

And the mixture of feelings inside of him didn't help him at all. Why had the ghost done that? Edgar was offended. He had done nothing to him in the first place, he didn't even know him!

_He had no right!_ Edgar thought, frowning.

But there were more important things to worry about now.

He heard those metal steps getting closer. It was Nny.

_"In here! No… not there, in here, this room!"_ The ghost yelled.

_Bastard._

And the knob turned.

Edgar swallowed and instinctively hid in the darkest corner of the small closet.

The first thing he saw was that weird spectrum's movements. His silhouette seemed brighter. Not as pale as before. In his grey eyes a sparkle of excitement could be seen. And just behind him Nny came along.

He didn't look as excited as the young deceased, though.

He just entered the room, looking rather bored and turned the light.

A yellowish flickering glow made the murderer look even creepier.

_"He's here I know… I can feel him... You can't feel him because you're not a ghost, Nny, but I can!"_

Edgar could feel his heart beating hard in his chest.

"Umh…" Nny's dry voice filled his hears "… so where is it?"

_"In the closet, Nny! I think he's in the closet…"_

_Here it comes…_ Edgar thought, damning the annoying ghost and his bad luck forever.

Nny came closer, Edgar hunched more in his corner in the closet, he could see Nny's boots from there… and then Johnny got on his knees… and looked under the bed.

_"No, Johnny he's not there! In the closet!"_ Jimmy's bright figure sat on the bed, right above Johnny.

"Where… where?" Johnny hissed.

_"In the CLOSET!"_

_Please no, not again… _

And Johnny saw the closet. He got up, and placed a hand on the door.

_"Yes…"_

_No…_

"AH!... I remember now!" A smiling Johnny opened the wardrobe beside the closet and pulled a hammer out of it "I was wondering where I had left it… Ah, if I could only remember where I put the new chainsaw…" and taking his hammer, he walked to the door, mumbling some annoying song.

_"Wait, what? Where are you going? He's right here!"_ Jimmy got up violently of the bed and stood in front of Johnny, who suddenly froze.

Edgar stayed static in the closet, not understating a thing of what had just happened.

_"Johnny?"_ Jimmy's voice became a whisper _"Where are you going? He's right here…"_

Johnny's face was hidden in shadows, Edgar could just see the brightness of Jimmy's figure from his place.

"I have… " Nny hissed "… I really have…"

_"Yes?"_

"I really have to fix this fucking lamp…" and then he went, walking like nothing had happened.

Because nothing really happened, not to him.

He just walked through the flickering light and through a very shocked ghost.

Nny stopped though, a couple of seconds, just after he blurred Jimmy's bright silhouette with his own body.

"It's so fucking cold in here… " and with that he left.

Silence set upon the room.

And then Edgar understood…

_He can't see him… yet._

And he stared at Jimmy from his dark corner in the closet. Until out of the blue Jimmy's bright grey eyes appeared right in front of him.

And he was angry.

The door of the closet opened suddenly, a cold breeze of hair filled Edgar's lungs. Johnny was right, the room was freezing now.

Jimmy's ghostly figure wasn't bright anymore. It was so dark that his unsettling grey eyes looked like car headlamps.

_"You…"_ he whispered, his voice filled with rage _"… why can you see me and he can't? WHY?!"_ His yelling hurt Edgar's ears. And left an ugly buzz in them.

"I don't know." Edgar mumbled, covering his ears. "Why were you going to tell him to kill me?" Resentment could be heard in his voice.

_"Why? Are you fucking kidding me?!"_ The room went so cold, Edgar started to shiver _"I did it so he could notice me. So what? It didn't work!"_ So the teen wasn't really regretful _"I can't believe he __didn't hear me or at least feel me__… I was so sure he'd notice me this time… "_ His pale figure got blurry, Edgar thought he was going to disappear at any moment _"But he didn't. It's always the same you know, he never knows I'm there!... And when he did he killed me… but I stayed here. I'll stay here until… until… "_ for a moment the ghost became brighter, Jimmy smiled at his own thoughts.

"Okay…" Edgar stepped out of the closet "I... er … leave you alone, so you can figure that out." Slow steps, one by one, just a few more and he'd get out of the room.

_And when I'm out, I'll disappear… _

Despite his previous bitterness, Edgar could let it easily go. It was not wise to fight with a dead person. They had nothing to lose and he had.

_"Where are you going?"_ Jimmy hissed, his voice was a mixture of laugh and anger.

"… out of this mad house…" Edgar whispered and kept walking, slow but firm steps.

_"Hah… you can't leave!"_ Jimmy laughed, floating up in front of Edgar. Every time he got closer, Edgar felt like he was going to freeze to death. _"You still can see me, can't ya? I have been here alone for what? One year maybe. And with no one to talk…"_ His twisted smile made Edgar feel a shiver crawling up his spine. _"It gets so boring and so quiet sometimes…"_ Jimmy's smile faded away and Edgar wondered if that sad tone in his voice was real.

Suddenly, Jimmy got closer to the other, his glowing grey eyes fixed on Edgar's _"We can have a lot of fun now…"_ He grinned.

"Yeah? I really doubt it." Edgar frowned, not liking how that was going… not liking how ANYTHING was going in that place and with that phantom.

_"You're talking to a ghost right now, dude… you shouldn't doubt anything anymore."_ Jimmy licked his lips and smiled even wider as he got closer to Edgar.

"Wait, get back. Right now! I'm not joking… I have… I have a crucifix! Somewhere… yes…" And Edgar stepped back.

_"Oh, the darkness! A crucifix! I'm sooo scared!"_ Jimmy mocked _"I'll tell you something, why don't you grab that thing and…"_

But he couldn't carry on.

A noise behind them caught their attention.

"What was that?"

_"Ssshh…"_

Edgar didn't like the expression on the other's face.

Jimmy turned around and fixed his eyes on the open door.

Another noise, this time closer.

The ghost walked to the door, Edgar noticed that any brightness left of him was gone, leaving him as dark as a shadow.

Jimmy saw through the door, and growled.

_"They're here…"_ he mumbled and came out to the hallway.

"What? Who's here?" Edgar didn't really know how to feel about that. On one hand he was relieved Jimmy had backed off, on the other hand _They_ didn't sound quite comforting.

_"… what are they doing here? I thought I had locked them already… How did they escape? I can't believe they got this far!"_ The teen sounded frustrated and really pissed off _"Not here… not now… Johnny comes here often, don't you monsters dare to come here…"_ Jimmy's color faded completely black.

"What is happening? Jimmy?"

_"Don't run away…"_ the ghost hissed and disappeared through the alley, closing and locking the door behind him.

Edgar ran to the door and tried to open it frantically.

"What is happening?! Let me out?!"

A terrible growl made Edgar's blood run cold. But it hadn't been Jimmy.

He stepped back, staring at the door, he could hear more noises now: heavy things falling, growls, glass breaking.

And then all went quiet.

He could hear his own heart beating.

_"You should hide now…"_

Edgar swallowed.

_"They can be very dangerous but he will take care of them, he always does…"_

No, that wasn't his mental voice and it wasn't Jimmy's static-like one.

He turned around, trying to discover where that tiny, sweet voice came from. But as usual, things weren't that simple.

_"I'm right here, on the wall! You don't have to be afraid, Edgar… I'm dead after all, I don't bite."_

Another dead thing that talked to him! What had he become? A paranormal satellite dish?

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Edgar whispered, trying to locate the little voice.

_"Oh I know a couple of things about you! Johnny killed you about a year ago, just a few floors down… And if I must say, he shouldn't have done that, you could have helped him better than the way you did with your blood."_

There… on the wall behind the bed. But what was it? It looked like a little doll nailed to the wall. The only unusual thing in that room.

_"But you went straight to heaven! Although I have been there… and I know it's kind of boring…"_

It looked like… a bunny.

_"It was very rude of them to sell your soul without your permission… but it's his right, after all, he owns your soul… owned, I mean."_

Edgar climbed on the bed, and he got a better view of it.

_"But once you're done with your mission, you'll be free to go anywhere you want! Heaven, Hell… that Taco Place around the corner… you will be free!"_

"A bunny?" Edgar gasped.

A dead one, nailed to the wall. The tiny creature stared at him through his empty eye sockets.

_"Nice to meet you, Edgar, I'm Nail Bunny. And they asked me to tell you what you have to do here… Well, nobody asked me, actually… But I just had to, it's not fair if they make you do all by yourself, is it?"_

Edgar didn't answer. He just couldn't think anymore, too many weird things had happened to him in the last hours.

"The Devil…" Edgar finally said "… the Devil said I had to ask you, that you'd tell me…"

_"Exactly… I don't blame you if you're mad, I would be."_ But Edgar didn't seem really mad, with his eyes and mouth open wide, to tell the truth, he looked rather comical. _" But you win nothing by being mad, just let me tell you what is going on and then you'll figure out what to do. You're smart, I know… after all they picked you among everybody." _

Edgar sat on the bed and took a deep breath.

That Jimmy guy was right… he shouldn't doubt of anything anymore.

If that was the corpse of a bunny nailed to a wall, talking to him, telling him he (or she) was going to help him… then so be it!

_"I'll try to make this short…"_ The bunny continued _"… there's a system that controls everything in this life and the afterlife. I think you have already heard from it. They even control Heaven and Hell. Oh no, I don't know a lot about them, but they bought you… they call themselves _Up there_ and they brought you here because they want you to get rid of something. Are you following me so far?"_

Edgar nodded, trying to stay focus and stop thinking on how he would get his sanity back after that.

_"You see… everyone has a duty in their lives. Johnny had his, and he was really good at it. He killed so many in so little time… but at the end things went wrong, and he died."_

A very surprised Edgar was about to ask how that had happened, but apparently the bunny was in a rush.

_"When he died they found out he didn't belong anywhere and he was sent here. He was free, you know? Like you will be if you finish your duty here."_ The voice of the bunny became a whisper _"But the system doesn't want him to be free… he's to good to be free… he has to get back to duty again…" _

"You mean like… killing again?" Once again, Edgar didn't like where that was going.

_"Oh no… Johnny is a murderer, Edgar, he kills even if he's not in the system… killing FOR them, though, is what they want. The system's way to control him is this house. This house is alive, Edgar. Hadn't you noticed it?"_

No. And the fact that he knew that didn't help his mental state quite a bit.

"And what does this have to do with me?" The puzzled man asked.

_"They can't."_ The bunny whispered _"They can't take him back into the system right now, something stops them."_

"And what is that?"

_"The same one who stopped the creatures from getting in here moments ago."_ The bunny solemnly answered.

"The ghost?" Edgar frowned.

_"Jimmy has a fondness for Johnny… a fondness I don't approve, by the way. He won't let the House take control over Nny and while he stays here the system can't do a thing about it."_ The bunny's voice was so low now Edgar could barely hear it. _"You must make Jimmy leave."_

"Make him leave? But… but how?"

_"I don't know"_ The bunny said _"Jimmy is here because he wants to be here. He was supposed to go to hell but he refused to leave the house. If you convince him to leave, I guess, he'd go away. But he's quite stubborn. I have tried to do that before. I can't help you with that, Edgar… I'm sorry."_

The man ran a nervous hand through his hair.

"So… I have to make him leave… and I'll be out of here, right?"

_"Yes, I know it's going to be difficult… but they chose you. You are the only one who can do it."_

Edgar sighed.

"It's not as if I have a choice either."

_"The house will help you, I think it already have… don't worry, it will protect you. Oh and… try to avoid Nny as much as you can, he is not quite aware of what you're doing here and I don't think he'll like it."_

Edgar got up of the bed and stared at the bunny. "You will still help me, right? If I need an advice or… something else."

_"I'll try. But I'm a dead bunny, I don't think I can do much."_ The little one answered, sincerely.

The man smiled, bitterly.

_"Don't go out yet, wait a little longer and then go down stairs to the room you hid in first. Johnny won't find you there."_

"Alright, thank you Bunny." He sighed.

_"No… thank you, Edgar."_ And the bunny went silent.

Edgar stared at him for a couple of minutes.

He had a lot to think about.

That Jimmy person… ghost… he wasn't even sure how to act around him, what to feel about him. He had tried to get him killed and God knows what he was going to do before those weird sounds arrived.

Edgar realized he should have asked the bunny about those weird "creatures" he mentioned.

_This can't be true…_ He sat on the bed again, and stared at the empty dark room _… but it is and I guess… I have no way out._ Edgar buried his face in his hands.

He was a rational man, he always tried to be. Even if things weren't easy, even if things were unfair. A few flashes came to his mind: the orphanage, that hideous school, that dead end job, that crazy girlfriend… and that polite and interesting assassin who ended his life.

That chair in the middle of nowhere. That woman who told him to leave. That ghost who wanted him dead.

Yes, sometimes he was just too nice. He wondered what another man in his position would do? What would that infamous Johnny do? Would he stand up for himself against that system?

What would Jimmy the creepy ghost do?

_"Creepy ghost…"_ Edgar sighed.

But he was tired… too tired to think, too tired to do anything.

"Get you out of here… " he whispered as he fell on the dusty bed "… But I'm the one who wants to get out."

And he closed his eyes, as dangerous as that could be in a place like that.

If only afterlife weren't that difficult.

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Thanks for reading! Pardon my mistakes, I'm NOT a native English writer and I do my best with what I have, heh. This chap is dedicated to Desdemona and Jynx who are always there to support me.

Thanks to Dezzy who helped me edit it!

If you see any mistakes, please do let me know! I have no betta editor and my english is always sucky, heh.


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